Journal of Professional Nursing

Welcoming a New Decade and Reflecting on the “2000s”: Considerations for the Discipline of Nursing

Ellen Olshansky — 2010-01-01

TRANSITIONS SEEM TO occur all the time, and time has a way of moving along even as we blink! We are now embarking not only on a new year, but a new decade. In the past 10 years we have witnessed many profound events, several of which I have chosen to highlight here. I have written often about the importance of placing nursing within a social context, and as we begin our journey into a new decade, I thought it appropriate to take stock of our society and the impact of societal changes on our profession.

Student Enrollment Expands at U.S. Nursing Colleges and Universities for the 9th Year Despite Financial Challenges and Capacity Restraints

2010-01-01

Part 1. Undergraduate Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Education: Envisioning the Role of Students

Susan D. Moch, Ruth J. Cronje, Jessica Branson — 2010-01-01

Nursing educators have embraced the integration of evidence-based practice (EBP) into the nursing education curriculum in numerous ways. As this review of the nursing pedagogy literature demonstrates, most of these approaches built upon long-standing commitments to helping students understand the scientific research process, think critically, and develop the information literacy skills that will enable them to find the evidence that can inform their practice. Many reports in the nursing pedagogy literature recounted various strategies used to teach EBP to nursing students. Another category of nursing pedagogy articles discussed ways that EBP education can be suffused throughout the nursing school curriculum. Few educators, however, have envisioned students as having a role beyond that of the mere recipients of EBP education. Nonetheless, a small but growing number of nurse educators have begun to envision students as enablers of practice change in clinical settings. These innovators advocate a pedagogical paradigm that places students into socially meaningful partnerships with practicing nurses as a means to promote the uptake of EBP in clinical settings.

Part II. Empowering Grassroots Evidence-Based Practice: A Curricular Model to Foster Undergraduate Student-Enabled Practice Change

Susan D. Moch, Ruth J. Cronje — 2010-01-01

This article presents evidence collected over the past 15 years that attests to the success of curricular innovations conducted to foster socially meaningful contact between nursing students and practicing nurses as a means to promote evidence-based practice (EBP). Action research data collected as these pedagogical strategies have evolved suggest that such student-staff partnerships offer promise not only to encourage commitment to EBP among nursing students but also to surmount most of the barriers that prevent the widespread diffusion of EBP among practicing nurses in clinical settings. Based upon our successful experiences with student-staff interactions, we propose a curricular model—the Student-Enabled Practice Change model–that suffuses the undergraduate nursing school curriculum with opportunities for nursing students to form meaningful partnerships with practicing nurses. The Student-Enabled Practice Change Curricular Model relocates the power to drive practice change to the grassroots level of students and practicing nurses.

Part III. Reenvisioning Undergraduate Nursing Students as Opinion Leaders to Diffuse Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Settings

Ruth J. Cronje, Susan D. Moch — 2010-01-01

Rogers's claims about the importance of social networks to the diffusion of innovations are reviewed in light of efforts to promote evidence-based practice (EBP) among nursing students and practicing nurses. We argue that nursing educators can take more deliberate advantage of the essentially social nature of the diffusion process by devising opportunities for nursing students to form meaningful social interactions with practicing nurses. We recommend curricular reforms that reenvision undergraduate nursing students as opinion leaders throughout the curriculum. Rogers's theory predicts that such ongoing interactions between nursing students and practicing nurses will better integrate EBP among both populations.

Are Regulations More Consumer-Friendly When Boards of Nursing are the Sole Regulators of Nurse Practitioners?

Nancy Rudner Lugo, Eileen T. O'Grady, Donna Hodnicki, Charlene Hanson — 2010-01-01

The widely varied regulations in the 50 states often limit consumer access to nurse practitioners (NPs). In 22 states, the Board of Nursing (BON) must share NP regulatory authority with another profession, usually physicians. This study examines the relationship between the BON as the sole authority regulating NPs or sharing that authority with another profession and the NP regulatory environment. Independent t tests compared the NP regulatory environments for consumer access and choice in states with sole BON regulation with those in states with involvement of another profession. The states' NP regulatory environments were quantified with an 11-measure tool assessing domains of consumer access to NPs, NP patients' access to service, and NP patients' access to prescription medications. BON-regulated states were less restrictive (P < .01, effect size 1.02) and supported NP professional autonomy. Entry into practice regulations did not differ in the two groups of states. Having another profession involved in regulation correlates with more restrictions on consumer access to NPs and more restrictions to the full deployment of NPs.

Baccalaureate Nursing Graduates' Perceptions of Their Clinical Instructional Experiences and Preparation for Practice

Mary T. Hickey — 2010-01-01

Clinical competence is essential to fulfill the role of a registered professional nurse. In light of the changing health care environment, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Institute of Medicine have recommended that health care professionals be proficient in specific areas. To meet the needs of today's graduates, nursing education must reexamine the academic and clinical preparation of nurses. This case study sought to identify the perceptions of recent baccalaureate nursing graduates regarding their academic clinical experiences and if they felt prepared to enter the practice arena. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to obtain data in the form of a mailed self-administered questionnaire developed by the researcher. Statistical analysis indicated that, although the academic clinical experiences were generally positive, there were significant differences in what actually occurred and what graduates deemed important for their preparation for practice. Effective clinical teaching practices were identified in the findings as well. Clinical instructional experiences are viewed as an important opportunity for students to become prepared for entry into practice. Faculty must be aware of effective teaching practices and be supported in that role. A preceptor type of experience was noted to be the most effective clinical experience in preparing students for the reality of independent practice. Nursing education must reexamine current approaches to clinical teaching and seek methods to better prepare future nurses.

The Impact of Clinical Nurse Specialists on Clinical Pathways in the Application of Evidence-Based Practice

Martha Gurzick, Karen S. Kesten — 2010-01-01

The purpose of this article was to address the call for evidence-based practice through the development of clinical pathways and to assert the role of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) as a champion in clinical pathway implementation. In the current health care system, providing quality of care while maintaining cost-effectiveness is an ever-growing battle that institutions face. The CNS's role is central to meeting these demands. An extensive literature review has been conducted to validate the use of clinical pathways as a means of improving patient outcomes. This literature also suggests that clinical pathways must be developed, implemented, and evaluated utilizing validated methods including the use of best practice standards. Execution of clinical pathways should include a clinical expert, who has the ability to look at the system as a whole and can facilitate learning and change by employing a multitude of competencies while maintaining a sphere of influence over patient and families, nurses, and the system. The CNS plays a pivotal role in influencing effective clinical pathway development, implementation, utilization, and ongoing evaluation to ensure improved patient outcomes and reduced costs. This article expands upon the call for evidence-based practice through the utilization of clinical pathways to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs and stresses the importance of the CNS as a primary figure for ensuring proper pathway development, implementation, and ongoing evaluation.

Learning Styles of Registered Nurses Enrolled in an Online Nursing Program

Anita Smith — 2010-01-01

Background: Technological advances assist in the proliferation of online nursing programs which meet the needs of the working nurse. Understanding online learning styles permits universities to adequately address the educational needs of the professional nurse returning for an advanced degree.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the learning styles of registered nurses (RNs) enrolled in an online master's nursing program or RN–bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program.Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. Kolb's learning style inventory (Version 3.1) was completed by 217 RNs enrolled in online courses at a Southeastern university. Descriptive statistical procedures were used for analysis.Discussion: Thirty-one percent of the nurses were accommodators, 20% were assimilators, 19% were convergers, and 20% were divergers. Accommodators desire hand-on experiences, carrying out plans and tasks and using an intuitive trial-and-error approach to problem solving.Conclusions: The learning styles of the RNs were similar to the BSN students in traditional classroom settings. Despite their learning style, nurses felt that the online program met their needs. Implementing the technological innovations in nursing education requires the understanding of the hands-on learning of the RN so that the development of the online courses will satisfactorily meet the needs of the nurses who have chosen an online program.

Trends in Self-Rated Health Among Nurses: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study on the Transition From Nursing Education to Working Life

Dan Hasson, Petra Lindfors, Petter Gustavsson — 2010-01-01

For nurses, the transition from higher education to working life involves several types of changes and seems to be a major contributing cause of distress and, consequently, ill health on a longer term basis. The aim of this study was to longitudinally monitor the development of self-rated health (SRH) in nurses, starting from the last semester at the university with subsequent follow-ups when the nurses had entered working life. The Longitudinal Analyses of Nurses' Education and working life is an ongoing nationwide longitudinal project focusing on mapping health and career development in nurses in Sweden. SRH is one of the most widely used single-item measures of perceived health status with a well-established predictive ability on future health outcomes, including morbidity and mortality. This study found a small but significant and continuous decline in SRH among nurses during 3 years of follow-ups, starting from their last semester of nursing education and continuing 3 years into their working life. The most pronounced decline in SRH seems to occur in the transition between student life and working life and is most explicit among the youngest nurses. However, the long-term effect on SRH when entering into working life seems to be more pronounced among the older nurses.

Scholar in Residence: An Innovative Application of the Scholarship of Engagement

Cynthia S. Jacelon, Linda Carey Donoghue, Eileen Breslin — 2010-01-01

Universities are expected to engage with communities for the benefit of both. Based on the definition of scholarship advanced by Boyer in the 1990s, inclusive of the scholarship of discovery, integration, teaching, and application, the School of Nursing and Jewish Geriatric Services, Inc., have instituted a unique collaboration entitled the Scholar in Residence. Unlike traditional agreements between schools of nursing and agencies to provide clinical experience and educate students, this agreement is designed to build scholarship for both university and agency. Outcomes include building opportunities for faculty and staff scholarship at the agency, enhancing the integration of knowledge into practice, intensifying opportunities for the sharing of knowledge by providing opportunities for students to work with faculty and staff on individual projects, and enriching the application of knowledge by providing opportunities for faculty clinical practice and consultation. The Scholar in Residence is a model of collaboration between the university and the community that reflects the mission of the university and provides value to the community agency through strategic engagement of both entities.

2010-01-01

Editorial Board

2010-01-01

Information for Authors

2010-01-01

Journal of Professional Nursing

Welcoming a New Decade and Reflecting on the “2000s”: Considerations for the Discipline of Nursing

Student Enrollment Expands at U.S. Nursing Colleges and Universities for the 9th Year Despite Financial Challenges and Capacity Restraints

Part 1. Undergraduate Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Education: Envisioning the Role of Students

Part II. Empowering Grassroots Evidence-Based Practice: A Curricular Model to Foster Undergraduate Student-Enabled Practice Change

Part III. Reenvisioning Undergraduate Nursing Students as Opinion Leaders to Diffuse Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Settings

Are Regulations More Consumer-Friendly When Boards of Nursing are the Sole Regulators of Nurse Practitioners?

Baccalaureate Nursing Graduates' Perceptions of Their Clinical Instructional Experiences and Preparation for Practice

The Impact of Clinical Nurse Specialists on Clinical Pathways in the Application of Evidence-Based Practice

Learning Styles of Registered Nurses Enrolled in an Online Nursing Program

Trends in Self-Rated Health Among Nurses: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study on the Transition From Nursing Education to Working Life

Scholar in Residence: An Innovative Application of the Scholarship of Engagement

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Editorial Board

Information for Authors